Lines and Protocol
by xenascully
Summary: Sex, drugs, and rock n' roll...An undercover assignment takes an unexpected twist. Dangerous lines are crossed and the aftermath could tear them apart... McAbby, Gabby, McGiva, Tiva.
1. Chapter 1

**Lines and Protocol**

**Rated: M; language, violence, adult situations.**

**Disclaimer: NCIS doesn't belong to me. ::pout::**

**Summary: Sex, drugs, and rock n' roll...An undercover assignment takes an unexpected twist. Dangerous lines are crossed and the aftermath could tear them apart... McAbby, Gabby, McGiva, Tiva. **

**A/N: This is a lot smuttier then I'm used to writing (well it will be in future chapters anyway), but the idea popped into my head and I couldn't resist. It's got a story behind it, so it's not a total smut-fic, but just a warning that there WILL BE intense adult themes.**

**And for first-time readers on my stories, the ***italicized*** writing signifies the black and white still shot they give us in the show before a scene and at it's moment of meeting. So don't be confused lol.**

* * *

_***Gibbs felt a churning in his gut about the eminent danger he and his team were volunteering to put themselves in...***_

Very Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo's heart pounded in his chest, but he tried not to show it to the dealer in front of him. They hadn't completely expected this to happen. It hadn't been discussed prior to their undercover mission...

**Two weeks earlier...**

Abigail Sciuto walked into the bullpen, hesitant and afraid as she scanned the busy faces of the four agents at their desks. McGee noticed her first; his gaze drifting from his screen and meeting her eyes.

"What's wrong, Abby?" he asked with furrowed brow. His question drew the attention of the rest of the team. Tony and Ziva glanced up at the goth forensic scientist as she searched the air between them and then turned toward her dearest friend, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, as his concerned eyes met hers.

"Abs?" he asked, "You got something for us?"

"No..." she answered and looked hesitantly at nothing in particular.

"Somethin' troubling you?" he asked as he stood and walked around his desk to stand in front of her. A sheepish look appeared on her face.

"A friend of mine is in trouble..." she said quietly. He squinted at her, eager for her to elaborate. "You said to always come to you, Gibbs. And I thought long and hard about it before I finally came up here... I didn't wanna bug you, but I knew if I didn't, it'd come back to bite me in the ass later." Gibbs smirked at the comment and gently took her upper arm in his hand.

"My office," he said as he lead her out of the bullpen, toward the elevator. The three agents left at their desks all shared quick glances, and Tony and Ziva made there way quickly to McGee's desk as he began scouring Abby's email account.

"I'm in," Tim told them as they watched from either side of his chair. "Most recent non-work related email is from...well, it's a screen name..."

"What's it say?" Tony asked.

"Call me," he replied, then his eyes shifted to the left for a split second before thinking the same thing his partners did, as they said in unison, "Phone record."

"Gibbs, me, Ducky..." Tony read down the list.

"Here is one from early this morning," Ziva pointed at the screen, "Jennifer Hathaway." Tim typed the name into a search and clicked on the result it brought up, opening a picture and information on the woman.

"Lance Corporal Jennifer Hathaway," McGee read as they glanced over the uniformed woman in the picture. "Age twenty-eight; clean record other then a few minor traffic incidents."

"What kinda trouble could she be mixed up in?" Tony wondered out loud...

* * *

Gibbs waited for the elevator to move a bit before hitting the emergency switch and bringing it to a dim halt. He turned to Abby, crossing his arms.

"Her name's Jenny Hathaway," she began. "She's a redhead," she smirked, "You'd like her. She's a Marine and she's just a kid, Gibbs. But she's a good person...she didn't mean to get into this mess..."

"What mess, Abs?"

"Before today, last time I talked to her was a month ago. We planned on meeting up once she returned from oversees duty which woulda been last week. But when I got her email, I was pretty freaked out," she was speaking quickly, but he was keeping up with her as he watched her mini-pacing around the small room. "She said she'd found out something about her boyfriend she didn't know. Something bad...but she assured me that she wasn't in any danger," she stopped in front of Gibbs and spoke directly at him, "But this morning, when I called her... Her boyfriend's name is Kyle Glover," she continued her pacing, "He's actually a mutual friend, although we haven't really kept in touch. But when she introduced me he remembered me right away."

"You have that effect on people," Gibbs smirked, trying to calm her down. She gave him a small smile.

"He seemed like a really nice guy...he's a Marine too. They met on tour in Iraq three years ago. But Jenny said he was involved in some kinda drug-related crime. He's dealing. And she's afraid of how he might react if she leaves him. And she says something big is about to happen...something she was afraid to talk about over the phone. But she's in trouble...I can just tell...I've got this feeling in my gut."

Gibbs stopped her by grabbing her arms and holding her in place in front of him. "She report this?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Like I said, she's freaked out that something bad might happen. She made me promise not to tell anyone. She loves him. But she's terrified. I can't just let something bad happen to her, Gibbs. I feel like she was telling me 'goodbye'." Her glassy eyes darted back and forth between his.

"I'm glad you came to me, Abs," he told her. "We'll figure this out. They're both Marines, so this is _our_ jurisdiction," he let go of her and hit the emergency switch again, causing the elevator to light up and begin moving. "You know where they are?"

"Not far from here," she replied, "Landover. They have a house there."

"Okay," he said calmly. "I want you to go to your lab and let me worry about this for now," he put his hand on her cheek. She nodded, though the worry was still on her face. "I'll be down to talk to you when I find something out, okay?"

* * *

When Gibbs entered the bullpen, he silently approached the three agents that stood in front of the large screen as they continued a conversation they'd already begun. They hadn't heard him come up, and hadn't realized he was back until he spoke from behind them.

"How'd you come up with that?" he asked when he saw Hathaway and Glover up on the screen. Their heads turned, surprised by his presence.

"Did a little digging when you disappeared with Abby," Tony spoke up for them. Gibbs cocked his head with a smirk on his face.

"What did you find?"

"Kyle Glover, Marine Lance Corporal; currently dating same rank Jennifer Hathaway. Nothing on their records as far as we can tell," Tony explained.

"Abby says Glover is dealing, and Hathaway is in danger," Gibbs told them.

"She is," came a familiar voice, and they looked over at Agent Tobias Fornell as he entered the bullpen. Gibbs cocked his jaw.

"Why the hell is it you know exactly when to show up?" Gibbs smirked. Tony had a clever response in mind, but held his tongue.

"Kyle Glover is being investigated by my office," Tobias said as he approached them. "We've been monitoring all in and out-going calls from his and Hathaway's phone line. Got an interesting hit this morning when she got a call from your Abigail Sciuto."

"It's a friend of hers. She called her because she said she was in trouble," Gibbs defended. "What do you know about this?"

"Enough not to take down Glover yet," he said. "He's a small piece to a very big puzzle, and we want the whole thing put away."

"How big?" Tony asked.

"Big enough to come down here and ask you a favor..."

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Director Leon Vance said to Fornell. The entire team, plus Abby and Agent Fornell, were seated at the conference table in Vance's office. "You wanna use my team to take down a major coke ring, because the FBI hasn't been able to do it themselves?"

"I've lost good men in this fight, Director," Vance said, "We've done what we can-"

"And you wanna put these agents, _and_ my forensic scientist in that same dangerous situation?"

"Miss Sciuto already has an established line of communication and friendship with one of the major dealers in the area."

"And you honestly think that this is the best way to get inside?" Vance glared.

"No," Fornell returned the glare, "It's our _only_ way..." The agents glanced back and forth between the two as they exchanged silent aggravation.

"We can do this, Director," Abby spoke up, quietly. Vance looked at her, and she suddenly became self-conscious. "Glover trusts me."

"What exactly is the plan?" Vance turned back to Fornell.

"I wanna send them in undercover. Abby can introduce them; get them trusted amongst the group. Word on the street is, they're planning to receive a big delivery and they're looking for receivers."

"This isn't football, Agent Fornell," Vance quipped.

"I think you know what I mean," Tobias raised his voice, his tolerance for the director's attitude running thin.

"Yeah, I do. But I don't see how you could know all of this, but not have made an arrest on your own."

"Stone, the guy we're trying to take down, changes reception multiple times. We can never keep up with it. There's no way, besides being psychic or extremely lucky, that we can intercept in time to pin it on him. Keeps getting away clean." Fornell watched the director as he considered the request.

"What do you think about all of this, Agent Gibbs?" Vance said as he looked over at him.

"Stone is responsible for sixty-eight percent of drug-related crimes in over three states," Gibbs said. "If the FBI is right, there could be several Marines involved."

"Taking Stone down would make two years of hard work worth while," Tobias added. Vance looked at Abby.

"You're sure you wanna do this?" he asked, "Are you aware of the danger involved?"

"I have friends in there, Director," she said bravely. "_They _are in danger. And I wanna help."

"Dinozzo, McGee, David?" Vance looked at them.

"We're with Abby, a hundred percent," Tony answered for them. Vance looked back at Fornell as he pursed his lips.

"I suppose you'll be wanting me to assist with surveillance?" he asked him.

"With me, yeah," he responded. "I've got a team that's been on this case since day one, and I have a feeling someone is actually a mole. This'll be completely out of the radar from the FBI. No one knows about it but us..."

* * *

Tony spun around on the stool in Abby's lab, bored out of his mind. Abby was busy scruffing gel into McGee's hair so that it would look a bit messier then his normal well-kempt, nice-guy look. Gibbs and Ziva stood next to each other, leaning back against the refrigerator, watching the other agents.

"Tony," Ziva said, "You are going to vomit if you continue to spin around like that." He stopped and squinted at her. A smirk formed on her lips.

"I'm not gonna puke," he replied and spun once more to look back at Abby's work. "Lookit the Probie," he smirked, "If you squint, he kinda looks like Matt Daemon in _The Bourne Identity_." Tim made a face at him.

"Funny you should say that, Tony," Abby said as she finished and turned to him. He looked at her in question. "I went ahead and made everyone's cover identities," she turned to her computer and pulled up McGee's new ID. "McGee is now Daemon," she told them. "Professor Timothy Daemon. You teach online computer courses for college level students."

"No fun if you gotta use your own first name, Abs," Tony said.

"Everyone keeps their first name, Tony," she said. "Easier not to slip up and give ourselves away... Oh! Well, Gibbs gets a new first name though," she said as she glanced up when she saw him and Ziva come into view of the screen. "I figured since we're all used to calling you 'Gibbs', I'd give you Gibson as your first name." Gibbs cocked his head.

"I'm a driver?" he asked, squinting at the screen.

"We have to bring a variety of skills, Gibson Price," she smirked at him. "Tony, you're Anthony Daemon."

"You gave me the same last name as McGee," he pointed out.

"Yep," she smiled at him, "That's because you guys are now _brothers_." Tony let out a small laugh.

"Are you serious?" his smile faded.

"As a heart attack. You fight like brothers. It was that or his life partner," she grinned. Tony's eye twitched at her. Gibbs smirked and Ziva laughed through her nose. "Ziva, you get a new name, but you're nickname will be easy to remember. Zipporah, or Zee for short. Zipporah Hart. Private martial Arts instructor." Ziva nodded in acceptance.

"That sounds like a stripper name," Tony gave Ziva a devious grin, then felt a slap on the back of his head and the smile immediately faded. "Sorry, Boss."

"And I, of course, am still me. But I no longer work for NCIS."

"So, what do you do?" Gibbs asked. She grinned at him.

"I'm your girlfriend." Gibbs raised his brows before furrowing them. "Don't be embarrassed, Gibbs. Jenny knows I'm into older men, so it'll be believable." Tony turned to his Boss with a smirk playing on his lips. But Gibbs turned to him and held up a finger.

"Not a word, Dinozzo," he glared.

"I wasn't gonna say anything," he defended. Gibbs squinted at him, and Tony turned back to Abby. "So Ziva's _my_ girlfriend?" he shot a glance at Ziva.

"Nope," she replied. "Timmy's." McGee's eyes went wide.

"Uh...are you...are you sure that's gonna...work, Abby?" Tim stuttered, and glanced over to Ziva who was looking at him with a curled up corner of her mouth.

"Tony plays a better drifter," Abby said.

"What the hell does _that_ mean?" Tony asked her with an offended look on his face.

"Oh, Tony!" Abby put her hands on either side of his face, "I just meant you're a better actor. You can do Dirty Harry better than anyone." He smirked at her, cocking his head a bit when her hands left his face.

"So what do I do for a living?" he inquired.

"You're a drifter, Tony," she repeated. "You do odd jobs...nothing you can put in a resume. You're tagging along for the job," she raised her brows on the last word. He didn't look very convinced. "If it makes you feel better, you and Zipporah secretly like each other," she smirked.

"This is an undercover mission, Abby," Gibbs said, "Not Days of Our Lives."

"I know," she said, "So I had a little more fun then I should have. Sue me." Gibbs smirked...

* * *

"Stone is smart," Fornell said as the team stood in the evidence garage being read in. "There's no way we can get wires or video feed inside. He'll take your phones when you get there as well."

"How will you find us?" Tony asked. Tobias picked up a leather jacket and handed it to him, "The zipper tag has a GPS locator chip. Wear this wherever you change locations to. We'll track it when we know you're moving," he turned to Gibbs, but addressed them all, "Once you're in, Stone will only return your weapons. We have new issues for each of you, registered with your cover names. Same for the cell phones, although they won't be returned, if you go in without them, it'll seem suspicious."

"When is the delivery date?" Gibbs asked.

"Tomorrow night," he replied. "They're receiving a small delivery tonight, but we wanna bust them with the heavy stuff."

"What if he chooses not to employ us?" Ziva asked.

"He'll employ you," he said. "Stone is an arrogant son of a bitch. He'll hire anyone willing to work for him. But he'll kill and relocate the moment he suspects betrayal. So, it's important you keep your cover...at any cost..."

_***Gibbs gut churned at the danger he was about to volunteer his team into...***_

* * *

**Let me know what you think thus far! Risky roads ahead...both for the team, and my writing. Lol. I'm nervous!!**


	2. Chapter 2

Jennifer Hathaway made her way to the front door when she heard the doorbell. Peaking through the peep-hole, she recognized her friend instantly and threw open the door. "Abby!" she threw her arms around her. "You didn't have to come-" she paused when she saw the people that stood around her on the porch. "What is this?"

"Jenny, these are friends of mine," she said. "Is Kyle home?" Jenny shook her head. "I think we can help you..."

*~.~*

Jenny had brought coffee to all her guests, and a bottle of Caf-Pow for Abby, before sitting down next to her on the couch. "So what's this about?" she asked quietly.

"We need Kyle to get us in on the receiving job," she said.

"Receiving job? I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean..."

"Just tell him I'm here and I brought friends who need the job."

"Why do you want to work for them? I don't understand."

"To keep Kyle safe, Jenny," she said, placing a hand on her arm.

"You can do that?" Jenny looked up at Gibbs.

"Jenny, this is my boyfriend, Gibson," she stood and took Gibbs' arm. He fought down the blush that he could feel spreading on his face. "He goes by 'Gibbs'." Jenny stood and extended her hand to him. He took it.

"I feel like I've heard that name before," Jenny said with a small grin. "How long have you been going out?"

"Since uh...right after you left," Abby improvised, then turned to introduce McGee, "This is Tim. I met him in college, and he teaches online college computer courses. We're super good friends."

"Nice to meet you," Tim shook Jenny's hand.

"This is Zee, Timmy's girlfriend."

"Zee..." Jenny shook her hand, "Interesting name. You're gonna...work with them?"

"She might seem harmless," Abby defended, "But she can kill a man with a paperclip."

"Eighteen different ways," Ziva added with a small smile. Jenny responded with a frightened grin, then shifted her gaze to the one man she hadn't met.

"Tony," Abby introduced. "Tim's brother."

"Funny," she said as she shook his hand, "You don't look much alike."

"Different dads," Tony improvised. Jenny gave an understanding nod.

"Can I...speak with you in the kitchen for a minute?" Jenny inquired her friend.

"Sure," Abby said.

"Just...make yourselves comfortable," Jenny told them, then turned toward the kitchen with Abby.

*~.~*

"Abby, what the hell are you doing?" she whispered. "I told you not to tell anyone!"

"Listen, Jen. I know you want out of this thing with Kyle. You have to trust me. We can put them all away. And we can keep you safe. But you have to trust me...us." Jenny's eyes searched hers. She took a breath.

"What do I have to do?"

* * *

Jennifer had made the call to Kyle. He seemed happy to hear that there were people willing to take the receiving job, and told her to tell them to meet him downtown at an outdoor cafe. So, the team left Jenny and made their way to the cafe.

There were several tables on the patio, but Abby spotted Kyle right away. She ran ahead of the team to greet him, and Kyle scooped her into a hug. "Abby, it's so good to see you, Babe!"

"Kyle, you look...great!" Abby replied as she looked him over. "I want you to meet my boyfriend," she shrugged her shoulders modestly as Gibbs took her arm. "Gibson, this is Kyle."

"Gibbs," he took Kyle's hand.

"I hear you're looking to take the receiving job?" Kyle asked. Gibbs nodded, then motioned to his team.

"All of us."

"What line of work are you in?" he squinted as they all sat down at the table.

"I drive," Gibbs said.

"Get-away?" Kyle smirked.

"If the price is right," he returned the smirk. Kyle seemed satisfied.

"What about your friends? What do they do?"

"Anything you need," he replied, flatly and confidently.

"That's what we like to hear. Are you able to start today, after I talk to the boss?"

"That's why we're here," he responded.

"Excellent," he smiled and turned to Abby. "Any friends of Abby's are friends of mine. And any friends of mine, are welcome to work."

"Where do you want us?" Gibbs asked.

"I'll give you an address..."

* * *

_"You'll see a large office building. Behind it, in the private parking lot, you'll see several trailers. You can park there and come up..."_

Gibbs recalled the information as they drove the streets of downtown Landover. He glanced in the rear view mirror at Abby's reflection for a moment, then over at Tony, who seemed unusually quiet.

"You okay over there, Dinozzo?"

"Yeah. Just have a weird feeling..."

"There it is, Boss," McGee motioned up the street.

"You can't call him 'Boss', Tim," Abby said. "And for the love of all that is sane and holy, you two need to start acting like a couple, or they're gonna figure us out."

"I'm not _not_ acting like we're a couple, Abs," Tim defended.

"You're acting like a scared puppy," she retorted.

"You love puppies," he squinted.

"McGee!" she said angrily through her teeth. Ziva laughed through her nose at the two of them.

"Relax, Abby," she said, "I will take care of it," she turned to look at McGee with a devilish grin as she snaked her hand over to sit on his knee. Tim swallowed and glanced at her nervously. "Do not be afraid of me," she said in a sultry voice, "I do not bite...hard."

"You don't have to make out with him, Zee," Gibbs said. "Just...I don't know...hold hands or something." Ziva pulled her hand from his knee and gently grasped his hand in hers.

"That better?" she smiled.

"Yeah...yeah I...think I can handle this," he decided and gave her a small smile.

In the front passenger seat, Tony seethed inside with jealousy. Gibbs pulled into the parking lot and parked the car, turning off the engine and glancing at his agents.

"Ready?"

"Do _we_ get to hold hands, Gibbs?" Abby smirked as they got out of the car. Gibbs cocked his head and smirked, reaching out to grab her hand in his as they walked toward the building.

*~.~*

The sun was setting in the sky as they sat in the waiting room looking out at the view from the window beside them. Tony sat between Abby and Ziva, watching from the corner of his eye as Ziva continued to toy with McGee. Her fingers drew little ovals on the top of McGee's hand that sat on the armrest between them. Tim seemed to be more comfortable with it now. Tony shifted in his seat and laid his head back against the wall.

His eyes looked to the left, past Abby, to his boss, who seemed to be blushing a lot today, and tried to play it off every time. Tony shifted forward again, his eyes glancing down to the floor. And just moments later, the woman at the reception desk told them they could go in.

They stood, making their way to the double door of the office. Gibbs held the door open for them and walked in once they were all inside. "Gibson Price and...friends, I presume?" the man at the desk greeted. Gibbs nodded and shook the man's hand before sitting.

"I apologize...I seem to be a couple of chairs short."

"Not a problem," Gibbs said, "C'mere, Abs," he motioned for Abby to sit with him. She tried to hide her excitement and sheepishness as she sank down onto his knee. She was surprised how instantly he'd fallen into the role as he placed a supportive arm around her back.

Tony stood, leaning back against the wall nearby as the other two agents took the chairs. Anything to prevent Ziva from sitting in McGee's lap...

"Mr. Glover told me about all of you," Stone said, "And it fills me with relief that we are able to fill this position on such short notice."

"We were relieved the position was still open," Tony said. Stone smiled at him.

"It seems to be an excellent day for all of us then. The job, of course, is tomorrow. But for my own sense of security, I implore you to stay in our...accommodations. And I need a small favor from you," he continued, leaning on the desk top a bit, "Tonight, we will be receiving a small delivery. I simply need you to accept it at the provided accommodations. Mr. Glover will deliver it, and give you further instructions. I hope I can trust you to comply."

"You can trust us, Sir," Gibbs said.

"Thank makes me very happy," he said, leaning back in his chair. He opened a drawer in his desk, and they all tensed for just a moment, luckily going unnoticed by Stone. "Here is a key to the first trailer on the right," he handed over the small metal key to Gibbs. "They are bigger than they look from outside, I assure you. Plenty of room for all of you..."

* * *

They walked into the trailer with their overnight bags and turned on the lights. "Well, he was right about one thing," Tony said, "It's definitely bigger inside."

"Only two beds," McGee called out as he explored the back of the trailer.

"Short straw gets the couch?" Tony suggested.

"Abby and I can share a bed," Ziva said, ignoring Tony's amused grin.

"There's two couches," Gibbs said.

"Deck of cards, Boss," Tony said as he rifled through the kitchen drawers and discovered the playing cards. "We can play poker. Winner gets the second bed?"

"I can save you the trouble," Gibbs said with a smirk, "I'll win."

"Oh ho!" Tony laughed, "Game is _on_."

*~.~*

The girls unpacked their bags in the small room as the boys played cards. "Can I ask you a question, Abby?"

"Sure."

"Why did you couple us up the way you did?"

Abby sat down on the bed and looked over at Ziva, "I didn't want Timmy to feel left out," she said quietly. The corner of Ziva's mouth curled up.

"Then why did you not couple yourself up with him?"

Abby smiled, "I'm not going to tell you..."

*~.~*

"Damn," Tony said as he folded. "Best two outta three, Boss?" Gibbs smirked.

"We got time to kill," he said, "I'm gonna use the head. Be right back," he stood and disappeared into the bathroom.

"Hey, Tony," McGee whispered. Tony turned to him, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he whispered back.

"About...the 'girlfriend' situation."

"You don't hafta be sorry," he turned back to shuffling the cards. Tim felt frustrated. But Gibbs returned from the bathroom and took his seat back at the table. And suddenly there was a knock at the door. Gibbs looked up at Tony, then McGee, then over at the girls as they came quickly from the bedroom and toward them.

Gibbs stood and opened the door. "Hey, Gibson," Kyle walked into the trailer and shut the door behind him. He carried a briefcase in his hand; cuffed to his wrist. He walked to the table and stood at the edge of it. "Why don't you all take a seat?"

Ziva and Abby took seats at the table with the agents. Kyle opened the case and pulled out a bag. "Mind if I use one of those cards for a minute?" Tony handed a card to Kyle and tried to get a view of the bag. "I assume Stone told you I'd be giving you instructions?" Gibbs nodded. "Very good," he shut the case and they all got a view of the bag...

"That what I think it is?" Tony asked, eying the bag of cocaine in Kyle's hand.

"A special blend of it," he grinned. "Your instructions are to try the merchandise."

"What?" Gibbs asked, cocking his head. Kyle laughed a bit.

"It's not poisoned, if that's what you're thinking. We need you. It's just...Stone doesn't like sending people out without knowing what they're selling. You'd be surprised how easy it is to spot a cop when you pull this stuff out. They refuse to do it. Then we gotta relocate...after taking care of the problem, of course."

The agents shared quick glances with each other as Kyle began cutting the cocaine into lines with the card on the table top. "You want us to snort this stuff?" Gibbs asked.

"Is that gonna be a problem?" Kyle looked at him in question, then to Abby.

"No," Abby answered for him, as he seemed to be lost for words.

"Great," Kyle smiled and closed the remaining coke in the bag, stuffing it back into the briefcase. "I'll be outta your hair as soon as each of you try it." He stood back from the table to allow them to step over to where he'd cut the lines.

Tony stood first, walking over to the edge of the table. He was hesitant...his gut wrenching. This wasn't what any of them had signed up for. But he remembered Fornell's words; they would be killed if they made Stone suspicious in any way...

* * *

**This is so fun lol**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, this is your warning...this chapter is extremely insanely and purposely crazy and out of character. So hold onto your seats, cuz it's gonna be a bumpy ride...;)**

* * *

"Got a twenty?" Tony turned to Kyle, smirking. Kyle grinned and pulled out his wallet, handing him the bill. Tony turned as he rolled the bill, glancing at his friends who were watching him in silence. He took a breath, then bent over the table to one of the toothpick-sized lines. Holding the bill almost to his nostril, he plugged the other one, swallowed, and sniffed hard.

His friends flinched as he abruptly stood, pinching his nose trying to stop the burning sensation. He couldn't help but to continue to sniffle. His eyes went to Gibbs as he stood, taking the bill from Tony and bending down to the table.

He watched them all...watched as they each did a line...uncomfortably, but without a choice. When they were finished, Kyle was satisfied. He said something, then left the trailer. Immediately, they went for the box of tissues on the counter, each of them trying to blow the offensive matter from their nostrils.

"I'm sorry," Abby cried. "I'm so sorry, guys, this is all my fault..."

"It's okay, Abs," Gibbs said. "You didn't know."

"What are we gonna do?" McGee seemed panicked, throwing the tissue into the trashcan. Gibbs looked at McGee. Then to Tony, who was making his way to sit down on the couch. Ziva's eyes wandered over to Tony, and she took McGee's hand and led him to the couch with her. She sat next to Tony. Tim sat on the other side of her, not even paying attention to what was happening.

Gibbs took Abby's hand and gently led her to the other couch beside it. "Maybe we should just watch TV," Abby said. "Maybe nothing will happen."

"I shouldn't have brought you all here," Gibbs said. "Shoulda done this alone."

"Don't say that, Boss," Tony said, turning the television on with the remote. "I wouldn't let you do this alone."

"Maybe this is an inappropriate question," Tony said, "But have any of you ever done this before?" They were all quiet for a moment.

"When I was with Mossad," Ziva said quietly, seeming a bit out of breath, and Gibbs looked over at her as she spoke, "There was a party. And in order to get in to see the man I was ordered to kill, I was told to do this same thing. But...it did not feel like this," she sunk down into the couch and laid her head back on the top of the couch.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked, beginning to feel a bit odd himself.

"Yes," she sighed. The room fell silent as they all laid their heads back on the couch and listened to the steady noise streaming from the television.

McGee stared up at the ceiling. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He saw a blur of Tony getting up from the couch and going to the sink. Then he felt something on his leg. Without looking down, he could tell it was a hand...Ziva's hand. He rolled his head to look at her. And she was looking directly at him. Her eyes were heavy and dark. And when he felt her hand start to slip higher on his thigh, his eyes drifted closed and his brow furrowed.

His head straightened to look up at the ceiling again. He couldn't think straight...he didn't want to stop her... his eyes clamped shut again as her palm touched his already hardened shaft through his pants. As she rubbed up and down, he groaned...

Gibbs head shot to the sound and he was shocked to see what his agents were doing in front of him, "What are you doin?" he startled them and they looked over at him; Tim quickly removing her hand from his crotch and hiding the tent in his pants with his own hands.

"I am sorry, Gibbs," Ziva said, out of breath with need. "I am just so..." she didn't want to finish the sentence.

"Horny?" Tony finished, and she looked over at him. "And you're just gonna start fucking whoever happens to be sitting next to you?" She glared at him, seeing his hands balled up in fists at his sides.

"You left," she replied. Tony flinched for just a moment, then he quickly went to her, kneeling in front of the couch between her spread legs and pulled her face to his, kissing her passionately.

"Tony, what the hell?!" Gibbs started, but Abby put her hand on his knee and he shot his gaze to her.

"No, Gibbs," she said, breathlessly. "Look at how he's touching her...so hot..." she snaked her hand to his, and pulled his hand high against her thigh. "Touch me..." He felt himself harden at her words, forcing the breath from him. But he conjured enough thought to speak.

"Abs...I can't."

"Please," she pulled his fingers higher and he could feel the heat radiating from her core. He groaned.

"Abby..." he watched Tony as he bucked against Ziva, tearing wildly at her clothes. He was so turned on, it hurt. "Abby, it's the drugs..."

"If you won't touch me, I know who will," she dared him as she stood from the couch, looking straight at McGee who was holding himself through his pants, trying to make sense of what was happening. "Will you touch me, Timmy?" she asked as she approached him.

Tim swallowed as she pulled her shirt off over her head, "God yes..." he breathed and pushed himself up off of the couch toward her as she took off her bra and let it fall to the floor. And he bent down, gripping the sides of her ribcage as he took a nipple into his mouth. She sighed loudly as her head fell back in appreciation of the contact.

Gibbs couldn't stand it any longer...he pushed up off of the couch, pulling her hips toward him roughly so she could feel his hard length against her bottom. She groaned again. His hands snaked in front of her, down to the hem of the short pleaded skirt, and up to touch her heat through her panties. "Uhnnn Gibbs..." she moaned.

Tim realized then that Gibbs was pulling her away from him, and he regretfully let go of her and fell back down to sit on the couch next to a now naked Ziva David. She was sitting at the very edge, Tony wasn't naked, but his pants were open and he was pounding into her, growling at the sensation as he nipped at her neck.

McGee knew he shouldn't watch...that he should be ashamed... but it didn't stop him from unzipping his pants and taking himself in his hand, pumping wildly at the sight of them. Tony's eyes opened and saw him. He felt pity for him and he put his mouth at Ziva's ear. "Zee...help him out..." his eyes closed, knowing what he was saying was somehow wrong on so many levels.

But Ziva looked over at what Tony was telling her, and she reached out to Tim's hand. His eyes shot to hers as she pulled his hand away and down in between hers and Tony's bodies, placing his fingers against her clit, "Oh god..." he squeaked, and she reached back over to him, coating her palm with his pre-cum and grasping his shaft, stroking for him. "Oh...god..." his fingers pressed her clit in circles as he bucked into her hand...

Tony glanced over at Gibbs who had Abby spread-eagle on the table, and was pounding furiously into her with a steady rhythm. He almost felt guilty as the sight made him groan deep in his throat. But he saw Gibbs look over at them, just for a moment...and Gibbs started going over the edge...the noises beginning deep in his throat as he looked back down at Abby...her own release ripping through her, making glorious noises and gripping his shaft, sucking his hot seed from him as he hollered his orgasm into the shallow of her neck.

Tony bucked aimlessly against Ziva as he could feel and hear her coming. He leaned back as he continued to thrust, allowing McGee to continue his administrations on her clit, helping her ride out the orgasm. Then he pulled Tim's hand away from her and gripped her hips, roughly thrusting into her a few more times before he went over the edge, spilling into her, shouting as he came.

McGee was disappointed when Ziva's exhausted body caused her to release her grip on him. He stood, heading for the bathroom so he could finish himself off, but he was stopped by Abby's hand grabbing his. He turned to her; her face was close to his, breathing...sultry, seductive breaths against his mouth...

She spun slowly around and put her hands down on the edge of the table, pushing back against his erection. McGee wanted her...so badly. But he looked at his boss sitting mere feet away, exhausted in the chair he'd settled into.

"Do it..." Gibbs told him in a low voice. Tim's brow furrowed and he looked back over at Tony and Ziva...they were watching him, seemingly in awe.

"Just do it, Probie," Tony said in just as low a voice.

"Timmy, fuck me..." Abby squeaked. He grabbed her and entered her from behind, grunting at the pleasurable pressure; his hands gripping her hips as he thrust. His right hand moved down the front of her, pressing two fingers rhythmically against her clit, and she began to moan, pushing herself back to meet his every thrust...

"Oh god, Abby..." Gibbs felt himself harden again and took himself in his hand as he watched her being fucked. McGee would never have thought that being watched would be such a turn on. He looked over at Tony and Ziva once more. Tony was thrusting into Ziva again, watching them... He looked back down at Abby's back...her tattoo...and his free hand left her hip and splayed across the skin on her back..

She began to spasm beneath him and he felt himself going over the cliff with her. His teeth bit down on the skin of her shoulder blade as he bucked wildly into her...and he only caught a glimpse of Gibbs as he heard him shouting from his own release next to them. McGee shouted with his release...and Abby fell, exhausted, onto the table under her. His forehead rested on her back for a moment while they recovered.

They all heard Tony and Ziva as they shouted through their final release...

McGee opened his eyes, as if suddenly coming to a realization... he pulled away, backing up until he hit the counter behind him. He held the front of his pants closed and started moving away from them all. "Oh my god...what'd we do?" his eyes expressed the shock he felt deep in his chest.

Gibbs looked over at him, realizing suddenly exactly what he was saying...he closed his own pants and shot up from his chair, reaching for a blanket to throw over Abby as he helped her to her bed.

"Gibbs..." she looked up at him as she laid down, "What...what have we done?" tears brimmed her eyes. He furrowed his brow and backed up out of the room...

Tony pulled back to look at Ziva's face. He searched her eyes...his darting back and forth between hers. He loved her...but what he'd just done was purely out of lust. He'd allowed, and even encouraged McGee to touch her, and told _her_ to touch McGee... "Zee...I'm sorry...oh my god..." he pulled away, covering himself as he headed for the door. Ziva grabbed for her clothes and ran into the other bedroom...

Gibbs sunk down on the couch, putting his head in his hands... Not only had he taken advantage of one of his best friends in the world, but he'd watched his agents in the throes of passion, and was turned on by it... masturbated to McGee screwing Abby... right in front of them. With no shame... until now...

McGee hid himself in the bathroom, sinking down in the empty tub. He was ashamed of what had just happened... he'd molested Ziva, touched himself while watching them...and got off while watching his boss, and his partners... oh god...

* * *

**Another fine mess you've gotten us into now, Olly! (idk- lol) I'll be putting another chapter up within 24 hours. It's gonna be crazy coming back from this, I know. I can't wait to start! Hope you liked :)**


	4. Chapter 4

They had gone through the next day in a daze...following the directions of Stone and Glover. They'd received the delivery...even secured the capture of Stone, Glover, and his employees involved.

They did what they were supposed to. And they'd managed to do it together, disassociating themselves completely from the actions of the previous night...

They knew how to separate life and work. They knew how to leave their emotions behind when they had to do their jobs. For Abby, it was more difficult. And McGee...well, he knew how, but it was only through the example of his team that he could get through it himself.

But now that they were home...now that it was over... they were each alone.

Ducky was the first to notice that something was terribly wrong. He'd stopped on their floor when he came in that morning, hoping to welcome them back home before heading down to autopsy to start the day's work. But as he happened upon the bullpen, he felt the thick silence... There was no banter between Ziva and Tony. They didn't even look up at each other from their desks. McGee seemed emotionless as he stared at his computer screen. Gibbs...well, he was filling out a report, without even asking the others to help.

Ducky didn't even enter the bullpen. He'd stopped in front of it, but no one looked up. Not even once. Something was horribly wrong...

Vance noticed it on his way out for a late lunch. He'd planned on stopping to congratulate them on a job well done. But as he descended the stairs, he could sense something was different. It had, frankly, creeped him out. He had passed them and gotten into the elevator, looking back just once, but no one had looked up...

* * *

Ziva looked up at her screen when it notified her she'd received an email. It was from Abby. She needed to see her in the lab right away. But she sat there, frozen...unable to lift her head to tell her boss she was going to go.

But from the corner of her eye, she saw him stand up and duck into the stairwell. She looked up from her desk for the first time that day. Very cautiously glancing at Tony, who was still focused on the papers on his desk, then at McGee, who at first glance, would've seemed to be looking at the screen in front of him, but she could see his eyes were focused on nothing at all.

She looked back down as she slowly stood from her desk and exited the bullpen without looking back. She disappeared into the elevator.

Tony closed his eyes and furrowed his brow, ducking his head down when he heard her get up and leave. Tim only moved his eyes in Tony's direction, looking at his troubled expression. McGee pushed up from his desk and escaped to the restroom...

Tony lowered his forehead to the edge of the desk. Knowing he was alone in the bullpen now, he allowed the tears to fall...if only for a few seconds. He needed to let something come out before he exploded...

* * *

Ducky turned in his chair when he heard the door hiss open behind him. He was a bit surprised to see Gibbs walk in, and he looked over at his assistant for just a moment. When Gibbs stood there in place, his gaze never leaving the floor, Ducky stood.

"Mr. Palmer," he said, "Could you take a break?" Palmer looked up, noticing the reasons for Ducky's request, and simply nodded before exiting without question. The morgue was deadly silent, with no pun intended... Even after Palmer left, Gibbs maintained his stance.

"Jethro..." Ducky tried to pull his attention to him. When Gibbs looked up at him, his eyes were red and distant. "What has happened to you all?" Ducky asked in a gentle and concerned voice.

"Duck, I-" his voice cracked, "I messed up...real bad..." Ducky didn't understand, but he went to him and gently took his arm, leading him to his desk chair to sit. Then he leaned back on the desk facing him.

"I'm here to listen, Jethro," he said simply, "And help if I can."

"I don't know if you can, Ducky," he said. "I don't even know what to tell you..." his face frowned with his words before his gaze fell back to the floor, and the doctor could have sworn his friend was on the verge of tears.

"Something happened in Landover," he concluded. Gibbs nodded without looking at him. "To whom?"

"All of us..."

"Jethro...what happened? You know you can trust me...with anything."

"It's not that I don't trust you," he looked back up at him, "But I'm ashamed..." he said as a tear rolled down his cheek before he could hide his face again. Ducky had no idea what had happened, but his heart was sinking in his chest for his distraught friend.

He watched him put his head in his hands and fight the sobs that wracked his body. "Dear Jethro..." Ducky had never seen him like this before, and it broke his heart. He moved to the side of him and laid a comforting hand upon his back...

* * *

Ziva hardly recalled her journey down to the lab. Only that she'd blinked and suddenly she was standing at the door, walking in. Abby was at her desk in her office, and merely looked up at Ziva, waiting for her to come over.

"Abby?" she entered, looking at her reddened eyes.

"I picked something up for you," she said, her voice cracking as she held up the small paper bag.

"What is it?" Ziva asked as she took it from her, opening the bag. Abby didn't answer. She just looked down.

"I went to get one for myself. And I thought of you...figured you would need it too." Ziva looked down at the small piece of cardboard packaging that held one pill. The 'morning after' pill is what it was called. Taken within seventy-two hours of intercourse, it would prevent pregnancy.

Ziva looked up at her. "You took yours?" she asked her. Abby nodded. Ziva ripped open the package and put the pill in her mouth, grabbing Abby's Caf-Pow to wash it down with before she could even begin to think about it...

Then she looked down at her... Abby seemed so small in that chair. She wasn't wearing lipstick today. She looked... defeated.

Ziva slowly lowered to the floor on her knees in front of Abby; their eyes finally meeting. And when Abby saw the matched pain in her eyes, she reached over to hug her. "Ziva, I'm sorry..." she cried. "I've messed up...everything. I can't believe what I did...Gibbs hates me now..." Ziva squeezed her. "And McGee..."

"They do not hate you, Abby. They could never hate you..."

"What I did... how can they ever look at me again? After I turned around and... oh god..."

"Listen to me, Abby," Ziva's tears joined hers, "I want you to run my blood. Run a toxicology screen. See what else was in what Glover gave us. We need answers..."

* * *

McGee splashed cool water on his face, trying to erase the evidence of his recently shed tears. He dried it with a paper towel and looked in the mirror, quickly turning away from his reflection. He took a deep breath, then pushed out of the bathroom and tried to keep his eyes fixed on the floor as he quietly made his way back toward his desk. But he heard a sniffle from Tony's direction and looked over.

His friend's forehead lay at the edge of the desk in effort to hide his tears from passersby. He obviously hadn't heard McGee come back into the bullpen, or he would've stopped. Tim took a bold chance to step over to him, crouching down next to his friend.

"Tony?" he said in barely a whisper.

"Shit, Probie..." he didn't move from his position, but was clearly panicked that he'd seen him this way. "I didn't know you came out of the bathroom," he wiped at his eyes.

"Listen, I'm sorry...about everything that happened. I shouldn't have..." he closed his eyes and looked down at the floor, trying desperately not to cry again.

"Not your fault, McGee... It's my fault," he put a hand on his desk. "I'm gonna go to the head. Anyone lookin'?" McGee quickly scanned the area.

"No," he stood and walked back to his desk.

"Thanks..." Tony said as he took off for the bathroom...

* * *

"He made us all do a line of coke," Gibbs told Ducky, once he got his sobbing under control. Ducky grabbed a stool and sat in front of Gibbs to listen. "It made us all...god, Duck, this is embarrassing..."

"You need not be embarrassed in front of me, Jethro. I'll not judge you."

"I slept with Abs..." Ducky straightened, and when he didn't respond, Gibbs looked up at him. "Hell, I _fucked_ her...in front of all of them..." he looked down again; his fingers went to his mouth, picking at the chapped skin of his bottom lip.

"Forgive me," Ducky said, "I'm not sure what to say... Cocaine tends to cause a desire to have sex."

"Tony and Ziva," he began, "Not sure it's my place to tell...but they were on the couch... I don't know how or why, but we were watching them..." he hid his face again. "At first I told them to stop... But Abby said no. She wanted me to touch her while we watched them...and it made me wanna do it even more... What the hell, Ducky? What's wrong with me?"

"I don't think I need to explain what cocaine can do to your mind," Ducky replied. "You know what alcohol can do to a person...."

"I can control myself when I drink," he said and looked up at him. "I acted on every urge in that place..." his brow furrowed again and he lowered his head. "It was all about sex, Duck...nothing more. God...I told McGee to..." his sentence tapered off as he felt the sting in his eyes begin again.

"Told him to what?" Ducky asked.

"Told him to have sex with Abby..." his voice cracked, "Right there in front of me...while I watched..." Ducky swallowed. His eyes searched the air between them, trying to find a response...something to give him.

"I must ask...all of you were willing participants?"

"At the time..."

"Perhaps there was something more than cocaine in what they made you take." Gibbs slowly picked his head up to look at the doctor.

"Glover said it was a special blend," he recalled.

"Did you recover any of the substance?"

"Fornell has everything."

"Then perhaps Abigail can run a blood test."

"I can't see her right now, Duck," he said. "Not after what I did..." Ducky looked up at the door when he heard it hiss open. Ziva walked in slowly, after seeing Gibbs hunched over in the chair. She looked up at Ducky before she spoke.

"Gibbs..." she said. He sat up straight but didn't turn just yet. "Abby found traces of MDMA in my blood..." Gibbs looked up at Ducky.

"Methylendioxymethamphetamine," Ducky said. "Ecstasy..."

* * *

Ziva waited for the elevator to start moving before she hit the emergency switch and turned to Gibbs. He met her eyes for the first time that day. She waited for a moment, trying to bring the words back into her mind before speaking.

"Abby thinks that you hate her," she started, and Gibbs pursed his lips and looked away. "I know that she is wrong. I know that you are...apprehensive...embarrassed...ashamed," she watched him look back up to her again. "We all are. We all feel this..." her eyes became glassy in front of him. His brow furrowed, unwilling to believe that they could possibly feel as horrid as he. "I am the one who set us all off."

"Ziva..."

"You saw what I did..." she allowed a tear to hit her cheek, and he recalled those first moments. "You saw us... and we watched you," she said, and watched him look down, ashamed. "Do not be ashamed to look at me," her voice cracked, and his eyes went back to hers, hesitantly. Her cheeks were pink now. "We all watched each other, Gibbs," she said, "We all..." she breathed, "Took pleasure from watching each other..." He searched her eyes as she confessed truths to him. He knew it was difficult for her as she spoke, and he took comfort from her words. "So stop blaming yourself for what happened. Each and every one of us feels that blame...and there is no way we can move past this, if you refuse to look at us..." her tears began again, and Gibbs' heart broke...he pulled her into a hug, petting her hair.

"I'm sorry, Ziva...you're right...You're right and I'm sorry..."

* * *

"What am I gonna say to her?" McGee said as he and Tony made their way down the stairwell toward the lab. "How can I even look at her after..."

"We all did things we aren't proud of, Probie," he said, "I'm sure she feels just as shitty..."

McGee bit his tongue. Maybe he was right, but he knew Tony was feeling just as badly as he was. He knew they were all hurting...but he also knew that everything was going to be different now... And that's what scared him the most.

As they exited the stairwell and moved toward the lab, the elevator opened, and they glanced over to see Ziva and Gibbs coming from it. They all shared quick, uncomfortable glances before entering the lab.

"Shut the door," they heard Abby say, and Tony pulled the door closed behind them. They all surrounded the computer where Abby stood, at a safe distance from each other. She stayed facing the computer, trying to summon the courage to turn toward them. But she kept recalling the night they'd been together... the intensity...

She had to explain this to them; let them know why they'd done it... She turned around and looked at their faces. None of them were looking at her. In fact, they were looking at the floor. "Stop!" she heard herself yell purely in frustration.

All of them looked up at her, stunned. "Please just stop it!"

"Stop what?" Tony asked with a furrowed brow.

"Acting like something horrible has happened and that somehow it was our fault!" she said with glassy eyes. She looked away for a moment. "I tested Ziva's blood and found more than just traces of cocaine. It had been mixed with ecstasy. The reason we felt the way we did...couldn't control ourselves...it was because of _that_. Not because we're...sick people..." she looked back up at them. "We're not sick people," she looked at McGee, then to Gibbs... then back to the floor.

Tim searched the air between them. "What do we do now?" he asked quietly, to no one in particular.

"We pretend it never happened," they were surprised by Abby's words and looked up at her.

"How, exactly, do we do that, Abby," Tony asked.

"Yes," Ziva spoke, "I have thought of very little else..."

"Can't get it out of my head," McGee added.

"I don't know how!" Abby yelled again, "But we can't keep thinking about it. It's gonna tear us all apart, and I..." tears began spilling onto her cheeks, "I don't want to lose you...you're my best friends..." Tony inched toward her, upset by her tears...her pain. He pulled her into a gentle hug and she squeezed him.

"Abby...we'll try," he told her. "Okay?"

"Promise?" she asked him, pulling away gently. He searched her eyes, then nodded. She took a few breaths before turning back around to her computer.

"You can go now," she said. "That's all I had to tell you." She busied herself on the computer as she heard them leave the room. When she heard the door close again, she stopped. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to cry...

"Abs..." she heard the soft voice of Gibbs behind her and spun around to look at him. His eyes were sad and red. "I'm sorry," he barely whispered. She shook her head, turning away again, back to the computer. "Please, Abby," he inched closer to her.

"Gibbs, don't..." she protested, looking down at her hands on the table top. He froze, furrowing his brow. "I asked you to do it... you did it because I asked you to."

"And I told McGee to-"

"No," she spun around to face him, "I offered myself to him," she blinked another tear down her cheek.

"I watched..." he focused somewhere in the air between them.

"I wanted you to...I wanted to watch you, watching us..." her tears started anew as he met her eyes again. He was slightly confused by her words. "Maybe I _am _a sick person."

"No, Abs," he shook his head and stepped closer to her, looking at the floor.

"I like the way you touched me," she confessed and his eyes shot to hers in disbelief. Her voice became a whisper through her tears, "And I like the way you touched yourself when you watched us..." He was officially frozen there in front of her. His eyes darted back and forth between hers, barely focusing. "But I know you don't feel that way about me... So thinking that, makes me a sick person," she turned away from him again, closing her eyes...embarrassed that she'd said anything.

"Is that really what you think?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Which part?" she sniffled.

"That I don't feel that way..." he was inches away from her now. Her eyes opened when she felt his hot breath at her neck. Her breath quickened.

"How do you feel?" she barely whispered. She felt his hand on her side as it slowly made its way to her belly, and he pulled her back, allowing her to feel his erection through his jeans against her hip...her breath rushed from her lungs as she was overwhelmed by the realization. "Oh..."

"Is this okay?" he asked.

"Uh huh..." her eyes closed when she felt his breath at her ear.

"Good..." his hand moved down from her belly and into the front of her pants, "This?" She swallowed and nodded, biting down on her bottom lip. He continued until he found her wet folds and pressed his middle finger into them.

"Gibbs..." she moaned, and his hips thrust against her.

"When I thought about you last night," he said with quickened breath at her ear, "I..." he pressed his fingers against her again, making tiny circles as he thrust against her, increasing the pressure. He was intoxicated by the smell of her.

Her hand snaked down over his, encouraging him to press harder. He thrust against her as their hands moved. "You what?" she breathed.

"I touched myself," he told her, and she grabbed the edge of the table in front of her, pressing back into his thrusts.

"Did you cum...thinking about me?" her words made him groan deep in his throat.

"Yeah," his thrusts picked up a rhythmic speed.

"Oh god..." she felt herself start to lose control.

"Abby..." his face turned into her neck as the friction was carrying him close to the edge.

Suddenly she came; and he remembered the sound well. He came with her, holding back whatever sound he wished he could call out as he continued to move against her...

Their breaths mingled as they stood there in the afterglow. She felt his hand slowly pull away from her and she slowly spun around to face him. A small smile played on his lips as he looked into her eyes. He leaned in and kissed her lips, pulling away to look at her again.

"I love you, Abby," he said. Her eyes widened at him.

"You do?" she asked, surprised. He smirked.

"That okay?" She threw her arms around him.

"It's more than okay," she smiled...

* * *

**Okay so that last bit with Gibbs and Abby was a spur of the moment idea...I've been sitting here for an hour pondering if I should use it or not. And then I had another thought for the rest of this story and I think this'll work out. I hope you agree—I know not a lot of people like Gabby (or at least i've heard as much lol) but I can see it. **

** Anyway, I'm putting this up cuz I promised within 24 hours. So here ya go! And please let me know what you think of this story so far. It's the craziest one I've done (crazy meaning...well there was basically an orgy...so yeah lol)**


	5. Chapter 5

_***Fear ran through Tony's body when he saw the gun in McGee's lap...***_

* * *

Ziva was curled up on her couch that evening when she heard a knock at the door. She didn't want to get up. She was tired and trying not to think... But the knock persisted and she forced herself off the couch toward the door. When she saw Tony through the peephole, she paused for a moment before opening the door.

"Zee," he said when she said nothing. "Listen, I wanted to say I'm sorry..."

"You already told me," she said. "And you promised Abby you would pretend it never happened."

"I said I'd try," he told her. She looked into his glassy, red eyes. "I can't." After a moment, she backed away from the door to let him come in. She closed the door once he entered, and made her way back to the couch. He watched her from where he stood, then decided to sit in a chair across from her.

"So," she said as she pulled her knees up in front of her, "What do we do?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I just wanted to make it clear what I was sorry for."

"I think that was fairly clear."

"No..." he looked at her. "Maybe it's not." She squinted at him. "I'm sorry for telling you to...do what you did for McGee."

"You did not force me to do anything," she reminded him.

"I suggested it," he squinted at her, "Just as bad... I'm sorry." They were both silent for a moment.

"That is all?" she asked.

"That I'm sorry for? Yeah," he looked at her for a moment as she studied him. "I'm not sorry I was with you... unless I hurt you?"

"You did not," she said. He looked at the way she sat with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"Are you uncomfortable around me now?" he questioned. She sat silent for a moment, then lowered her legs to the floor and stood. She walked over to him and shook her head as she sat down on the arm of the chair he sat in.

"I am not sorry I was with you, either," she said. He smirked at her, and the corner of her mouth curled up.

"We _did_ have fun, anyway."

"Yes," she looked into his eyes, then leaned down to kiss him. "Perhaps we can try it for real some time." He smiled at her...

* * *

Timothy McGee couldn't remember ever feeling so horrible in all his life. He felt that way when he woke up that morning. But he'd trudged through the routine of getting ready for work and driving to work, although it had all seemed like a blur. But as he turned off the engine, he couldn't help but to be jolted back to reality, and he was unable to find a single reason to get out of the car...

*~.~*

Tony was running late. He pulled into the parking garage and quickly parked, getting out of the car right as his cell rang.

"Hey, Boss. I know I'm late but I'm here. Just parked."

_"You seen McGee?" _Gibbs asked on the other line. Tony was going to say 'no', but as he walked, he saw Tim sitting in his car.

"Yeah," he said in the phone as he approached the car and tapped on the window.

"Go away, Tony," McGee said without looking up at him. That's when Tony saw the gun in his lap.

"Boss...you should come down here..."

_***Tony felt hot fear run through him as McGee closed his hand around the handle of his gun...***_

* * *

**Short chapter, I know, but it needed to stand alone. I'll have more up soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

Tony walked around the car to the passenger seat, and slowly slipped in to sit beside him.

"I said, go away," Tim said. Tony closed the door.

"I'm not goin' away, McGee. What's going on?" Tim sighed, looking briefly up at the windshield before looking down at the gun in his hand again. Tony watched a tear fall from his partner's face, down onto his hand.

"Please...just leave me alone," his voice cracked.

"Why won't you talk to me? Is this about Landover?" he asked, trying desperately to get his friend to tell him what was wrong. "We _all_ hurt from this, Probie..."

"You have no idea!" Tim looked at him as he yelled, and Tony swallowed when he saw the anguish on his face. He'd never seen him like this before...never seen this much pain in his eyes.

"Then tell me," he said. Tim squinted at him; his eyes brimming with tears. He saw movement in the distance behind Tony, and focused to see Gibbs approaching the car. He quickly looked back down at his lap.

Tony looked out his window at Gibbs as he approached, and his boss squinted at the fear he saw on his face. Gibbs looked past Tony at a distraught McGee, and saw the gun. He understood then what Tony was afraid of...

He slipped into the back seat, quietly, and closed the door, looking at McGee's reflection in the rear view mirror.

"I'm not like you, Tony," McGee began to answer his question, as if Gibbs hadn't interrupted. "I can't just walk away and forget what happened..."

"Is that what you think I did?" he asked calmly.

"_You_ didn't do anything you can't be forgiven for," Tim said in barely a whisper as another tear dropped onto his hand.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Tony tried to reassure him.

"Don't say that, Tony, you know what I did," his hand tightened around the handle of his gun.

"You did what you were told to do," Gibbs said, and McGee looked at him in the rear view mirror.

"I took advantage of Abby," his voice cracked again.

"She told you to," Tony said, "We all did..."

"I didn't have to listen! I can't even talk to her now...can't even t-tell her I'm sorry..." his breath hitched.

"We should be apologizing to _you_, McGee," Gibbs said. "None of us knew how hard you were taking this. You shoulda come to me."

"I can't talk to you, Boss..." he said, and Gibbs felt a pang in his chest at his words, "I can't talk to any of you... We all have our own ways of dealing with stuff..."

"This is your idea of dealin' with stuff?" Gibbs asked. "Killin' yourself?"

"I didn't exactly plan this..." he breathed, "I felt so horrible yesterday. And when I got up this morning, I felt even worse...," his voice became shaky, "It's not going away. It hurts... and I don't wanna feel it anymore," his grip re-tightened on the gun.

"Tim, I'm sorry you felt we wouldn't talk to you," Gibbs said, "But we're here now... You think we could forgive ourselves if you did this?" Tim looked at his boss's reflection again with new tears. "You think Abby would forgive herself, if you killed yourself because of what happened?"

McGee eyelids blinked rapidly as he processed what he'd just been told. And he broke down...his breath hitching with his sobs. Tony saw his grip loosen completely from the gun, and he slowly reached over and took it from him without resistance. He glanced back at Gibbs, and Gibbs slid out the driver side of the back seat and opened Tim's door, kneeling down to pull his crumbling agent into an embrace.

"We'll get through this, McGee," he told him, and glanced at Tony who was still disturbed at what had just happened. His gaze seemed to drift to the dashboard in thought. Gibbs couldn't help but to think he had neglected his agents... This problem wasn't going to go away on its own...

* * *

Tony walked into the lab and over to Abby's office where she sat in front of her computer.

"Hey, Tony," she smiled at him. "What's up?"

"Gibbs wanted me to come get you," his face didn't hide the feelings of fear he'd felt in the last fifteen minutes.

"What's going on?" she asked, concerned. He took a breath, trying to think of a way to word it.

"McGee's not doing so well," he told her. She cocked her head in question. "Gibbs and I...just talked him outta shooting himself," his eyes reddened.

"What?" Abby stood, suddenly appalled.

"I didn't know how hard he was taking it, Abs... Gibbs thinks you should talk to him...make him understand it's not his fault."

"I told him. I told you all yesterday..." her jaw cocked as her eyes became glassy.

"Apparently, he didn't take that to heart..."

* * *

Abby opened the door to the conference room and walked in, closing the door behind her as she looked over at McGee. He was sitting at the very end of the table; his fingers running through the sweat on the water bottle that sat on the table in front of him.

He glanced up at her as she walked toward him. He seemed genuinely surprised that she was there, and his eyes glanced around the air between them as she approached. When she stepped next to his chair, she slapped him across the face.

"What-"

"Don't you _ever_...ever do that to me, Tim!" she yelled, tears dripping down her cheeks in anger and fear. She pulled her hand up to slap him again and he stood and grabbed her arm.

"Abby, I-"

"No! No, McGee, don't tell me you're sorry. I already knew that. I'm not an idiot. But I never thought you would try to..." she covered her mouth, unable to even let the words come out. McGee swallowed. He didn't know what to say.

She put her hands on his face, "You know I care about you, right?" He squinted, but then nodded. "What happened... it was my fault. I asked you to do what you did. And I'm not gonna stop caring about you because of anything that happened. Okay?" He looked away for a moment, but then met her eyes again.

"Okay," he said. And she threw her arms around his middle.

"Now promise me you'll never scare me like that again," she said.

"I promise, Abs," he put his arms around her, and felt everything lift away from him... Maybe it would be okay after all...

* * *

Tony and Ziva sat at their desks, watching Gibbs pace back and forth in the bullpen. He stopped in front of Tony's desk and looked at him.

"You need to talk about anything with me, DiNozzo?" he asked quietly.

"No, Boss. I'm good. What about you?" Gibbs squinted.

"Workin' on it," he said and turned to walk back to his desk.

Tony rolled his neck and stretched his back, preparing for the next couple hours worth of paperwork on his desk. As he pulled his chair closer to his desk, he felt a dull pinch in the right side of his chest and cringed. It had already been a long day, and it had only just began.

"Boss," they all looked over when McGee entered the bullpen from the back, and walked to Gibbs' desk, "I'm sorry. Won't happen again." Gibbs considered his words for a moment, then nodded. Tim turned toward his desk, glancing at Tony briefly with a small smile, then sat.

"I'm gonna go grab some coffee," Tony said, "Anyone want some while I'm there?"

"Runnin' low," Gibbs said, tilting his coffee cup.

"Sure, thanks," McGee said.

Tony stood and started to walk, but stopped suddenly, feeling the pinch in his chest grow into something more intense. He held his breath and hunched slightly, trying to will it to ease back.

"You okay?" McGee was the first to notice him. Gibbs and Ziva looked up from their desks at Tony.

"Yeah," he squeaked. "Think I just...pulled something, maybe," he let his breath out. But when he breathed back in, the pain became worse, and caused him to lurch over, "Shit," he breathed, and the other agents were on their feet to help him.

"What's hurting, Tony?" Gibbs asked, pulling his chair over to him and guiding him to sit. Tony put his hand over the right side of his chest, indicating where the sharp pain was radiating from.

"We should take you to the hospital," Ziva said, kneeling beside him and feeling his forehead.

"Just gimme a minute," he said with fast, labored breath, "Maybe it'll go away...sure it's just a cramp."

"Ducky's on his way up," McGee said as he hung up the phone.

"Call an ambulance, McGee," Gibbs said.

"'M fine," he tried to smile through the discomfort, but failed. He swallowed, then felt a fluttering high in his chest and coughed in attempt to make it go away. He instantly regretted the decision as he attempted to suck in another breath, and found it was difficult.

He started to panic... couldn't get enough breath to say anything to his boss that was now kneeling in front of him. But his eyes focused on Gibbs.

"Lips are turnin' blue, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, squinting at him for some kinda response. "I don't think we got time to wait for Duck."

"I'm here, Jethro," Ducky said, entering the bullpen and quickly going over to Tony. "What happened?" he asked as he examined the struggling agent.

"He was fine," McGee said, "Then he said his chest hurt..."

"He's having trouble breathing," Gibbs added.

"Do you think you can make it to the elevator, Anthony?" Ducky asked.

"We'll get him there," Gibbs said, glancing at McGee and putting Tony's right arm around his shoulder. McGee took his lead and took Tony's left arm, and together they helped Tony toward the elevator. Ziva ran ahead to press the button and turned to watch Tony, right as his legs started to give out. She flinched, but Gibbs and McGee held him up and carried him the rest of the way.

When they all piled into the elevator, Ziva hit the ground level and turned back to the scene in front of her. "What is happening to him, Ducky?" she asked as they knelt with him.

"I believe he has a collapsed lung," Ducky said.

"How?" Gibbs asked.

"It can happen to a perfectly healthy person spontaneously. But I believe the scarring on his lungs from the Wypestis, may have made him more susceptible to respiratory problems after the uh...cocaine usage you were all forced into."

Gibbs' attention was forced back to Tony when he felt his hand gripping tightly to the back of his suit coat. "Don't...wanna... die... Boss," he said in short spurts of air.

"Well that's good, DiNozzo, 'cause you're not gonna," he told him, and the elevator opened. They could see the EMTs coming toward them...

* * *

McGee had requested to ride with Ducky as they followed behind the ambulance. His eyes were burning from lack of sleep the night before...and the pathetic weeping he'd done not an hour before this had happened. The feeling of doom and dread he'd felt that morning was now replaced with fear and uncertainty.

He remembered the words his boss told him before he got into Ducky's car... _"You call me the moment they tell you anything..."_ As if he needed to say that. But Tim knew that Gibbs was just as scared as the rest of them.

"Sorry to intrude on your thoughts, Timothy," Doctor Mallard said, briefly glancing at the agent beside him, "But I was wondering if I could ask you...have you talked to anyone about your experiences in Landover?" Tim furrowed his brow in Ducky's direction.

"Why do you ask?"

"Insomnia is often a bi-product of post-traumatic stress, and/or depression."

"What happened wasn't...traumatic, Duck," he said looking out his window.

"Yet you look as though you haven't slept in days." McGee thought about it for a moment, considering the well-being of his friends.

"Look, I'm only telling you this because you're Gibbs' friend and I know he's gonna end up telling you anyway... And because...I'm less ashamed about this," his voice cracked, "Then anything that happened in Landover," he looked over at Ducky's profile for a moment, then back out the window. "Tony saved my life this morning," he began.

"This morning? I wasn't aware you'd had a case..."

"Wasn't a case," he said, and Ducky glanced over at him and then back at the road. "I was sitting in my car with my gun in my hands...and I thought I was ready to die..." Ducky's brow furrowed at his confession; disturbed and saddened. "Everything seemed so...dark. Hopeless... If Tony hadn't come along when he did," he looked back over at Ducky and swallowed, "I'd be lying on one of your cold tables."

"Timothy..."

"Don't worry, Duck," he interrupted, "It was my fault for not trusting to talk to anyone about it. I think I'm okay now. Besides, I promised Gibbs and Abby it would never happen again." He turned to look back out the window. "But I never thanked Tony..."

* * *

"Tobias, I need to know exactly what the hell was in Glover's briefcase," Gibbs slightly paced the orange-walled corner beneath the MTAC staircase as he spoke in his cell. "Because my agent's life could depend on it!" he yelled. "Just...just send Abby the results," he ended the call.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, digging his palms against them to will the throbbing in his head to cease. "Need an aspirin, Gibbs?" he heard Ziva and turned around.

"Already took something," he replied and walked past her into the bullpen.

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked, and he looked back at her. "To Fornell...about Tony?" her eyes searched his.

"I don't know...Ziva," he told her, "But until I do, I can't sit around just waiting on a phone call." She followed him into the bullpen, continuing over to her desk and sitting.

"And what can _I_ do?" she asked, looking at him when he didn't sit.

"You can finish the Landover report," he said as he picked a file up from his desk and walked over to plop it down in front of her.

"Where are you going?"

"To see if Abby got the fax," he said as he walked to the elevator.

* * *

"Hey, Gibbs," Abby said as he walked in, "I got a fax from Fornell pretty much verifying everything I found in Ziva's blood test. Did you order that?" Gibbs sighed and looked down with a furrowed brow. "What's wrong?" she asked when she recognized the nervousness on his face.

Gibbs cell rang. He looked up at her before accepting the call, "Yeah, Gibbs."

_"Boss, the doctors confirmed he has a collapsed lung. They took him into the O.R."_

"How bad, McGee?"

_"They...didn't elaborate really. They had to get him in there right away..."_

"I meant the surgery. What are they doing?"

_"Oh, uh...all I know it they're putting in a chest tube, Boss."_ Gibbs ended the call.

"Gibbs...who's in surgery?" Abby asked. Gibbs looked at her and hesitated to answer...

* * *

**ohemgee im so tired... 3 hours sleep in the past 72 hours. Its taking forever to write with my burning eyeballs...so im gonna take a break for a few. Wanted to put something up for now tho. Hope u enjoyed!**


	7. Chapter 7

Ducky and McGee sat in the empty room where the doctors had told them DiNozzo would be brought after surgery. There was a big open space where his bed would eventually be. They had told them it wouldn't be much longer, and McGee was worried because it had seemed much much longer. He laid his head back on the wall, resisting the urge to get up and pace the room.

Then they heard movement outside the room and he looked over at the door as they wheeled a bed into the room. He stood, making room for them to move the bed into place, and caught small glimpses of Tony. His eyes were closed, but the blue tint that had been on his lips the last time they'd seen him, was gone.

Tim remained standing against the wall as the team of nurses did their jobs around the sleeping agent. Ducky had followed the surgeon into the hall to be debriefed on what they'd done. And soon the room was cleared, and only he and Tony were there.

McGee approached the bed, slowly, observing the sight before him. There was a tube coming from his right side; somehow what Tim had pictured, hadn't seemed so gruesome. He followed the line down to the four-chambered drainage system that connected to the side of the bed.

His upper body was elevated slightly; his feet sat snugly against the foot-board. Tim sat down in the chair next to him and looked at his face. He suddenly felt the need to talk.

"Hey, Tony..." he said softly, so as not to wake him. "I just wanted to uh...thank you, for what you did this morning. I shoulda said so earlier," he looked down at the tube. "I want you to know...even with all the nicknames and crap you give me...you're one of my best friends," he felt his eyes begin to sting. "Maybe that's...kinda sad, but it's true," his eyes darted around in the air as he got lost in his thoughts.

"'M not dyin', Probie," he heard Tony murmur, and he looked up at his face. His eyes were still closed, but a small smirk played on his lips.

"I- I didn't know you were awake..."

"Kinda hard t' sleep when you keep talkin'," he replied.

"Sorry...I'll...I'll shut up," he sat back and swallowed, watching Tony for a moment longer before looking down.

"Hey, Probie?"

"Yeah?" he looked back at his still form.

"You too..." he said, simply. Tim furrowed his brow until he realized the sentiment of the statement. And as he watched the steady rise and fall of Tony's chest, he relaxed in the chair and the corner of his mouth turned up.

He heard the door open silently and looked over at Ducky who was motioning for him to come out into the hall, and he stood to go out with him.

"I called Gibbs and he's on his way here with Ziva," Ducky told him. "You should go home and get some rest."

"What about Tony?"

"I'll be here with him, until they arrive. You can take my car, and I'll get a ride back with Jethro and swap out with you this evening."

* * *

"How's he doin', Duck?" Gibbs stopped out in the hall to hear from Doctor Mallard as Ziva walked into the agent's room.

"The pneumothorax was about thirty percent," he began, "Which means the collapse was large enough to need a chest tube to drain the fluid. Because of his medical history of scarring, they found it necessary to scrape the chest cavity wall," he told him, and Gibbs squinted at the thought, "This prevents the lung from collapsing again by allowing it to heal onto the wall once fully inflated. A painful procedure, but I'm sure he'd tell you, well worth it not to experience that again."

"He awake?" he asked, just as Ziva came out to them.

"Something is wrong," she said nervously, and they followed her back into the room. Gibbs went to Tony's side when he saw his body shaking.

"What's happening?" Gibbs looked at Ducky.

"He's in pain," Ducky motioned to Tony's foot and Gibbs looked over at it. Tony's body was shaking because he was rhythmically pressing the ball of his foot repeatedly against the foot-board. "I'll alert the nurses that he needs more morphine," Ducky said as he hurried out of the room.

Gibbs turned to look back at Tony's face. His brow was furrowed; lips pursed, and sweat was dripping from his forehead. "DiNozzo, can you hear me?" Gibbs asked and reached down to take his hand and looked down at it when Tony gripped onto it like a vise.

"Hurts..." Tony breathed. Gibbs looked back at his face and put his free hand on top of his agent's head.

"They're gonna make that go away, soon, Tony," he said to his closed eyes. He glanced at Ziva who was holding his other hand in both of hers, and she met his eyes right before a nurse rushed in with Ducky. The nurse typed a code into the IV machine to increase the morphine drip, then went to Tony's side to take his pulse at his wrist.

"Mr. DiNozzo, I need you to try and take deep breaths," she told him. Gibbs concentrated on his agent's face as Tony's jaw clenched; he breathed as deep of breaths as he could through his nose. And after a few long moments, his body ceased shaking, and the grips he had on his friends' hands began to loosen up.

Gibbs gave the nurse an appreciative nod before she left the room. "Sorry 'bout that, Boss," Tony said, and they all looked at him. His eyes were cracked open slightly.

"Feeling better, Anthony?" Ducky asked from the end of the bed.

"Breathing," he answered, "If I could somehow...forget the brutal and...barbaric method in which...they inserted the tube...I'd be great," he spoke in intervals as long as his breath would allow.

"At least the worst is over," Ducky reassured him. Tony's eyes looked over at Ziva, then to Gibbs.

"Where's McGee?" he asked.

"I sent him home to get some sleep," Ducky said. Tony furrowed his brow and looked back at Gibbs.

"Sure he should be alone?" he asked him.

"Give him some credit, and some trust, Tony," Ducky said. Ziva glanced between the agents, confused.

"Why can he not be alone?" she asked Gibbs. Jethro looked at Ducky, assuming that Tim must have confided in him. And Ducky seemed to have been unaware at that point, that Ziva hadn't known the events that had transpired that morning...

* * *

**Short chapter, I know. My sleep is out-of-control ridiculous lately. No sleep...definitely harder then 3 hours of sleep. I think I'll try and take a healthy stab at going to bed at a decent hour tonight, with the aid of sleep-meds. My goal is to finish this story tomorrow, and start another one either that same night, or the following day. I have such a coolio idea for the next one-im super excited! Anyway, hope u enjoyed :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Tim opened his eyes after being jolted awake by a noise he couldn't exactly comprehend at that point. So he waited, hoping to hear it again. And then he heard a knock at his door and shot up from his bed and went to answer it. Expecting it would be Ducky, he was surprised to see Ziva standing there in his door.

"Hey, Ziva," he said as she walked past him into the apartment. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he closed the door. "Everything okay with Tony?" he asked with sudden concern. She turned to face him.

"Tony is going to be fine," she said. He stood there, slightly uncomfortable. "You were sleeping," she realized, "I am sorry I woke you," she looked down at the floor.

"No, it's fine," he said taking a few steps forward, "I needed to get up anyway." He was surprised when Ziva hugged him; her arms wrapping around his middle and her face laying against his shoulder. His hands were out by his sides, uncertain as to how to react. "They told you what happened..." he concluded.

"I am so sorry, McGee," she said in a low voice.

"Ziva, I should be the one apologizing," he said, finally settling his arms lightly around her shoulders.

"I am the one who touched you," she said, "And forced you to touch me..."

"I didn't exactly resist," he added after a moment, blushing at the recollection. He felt her laugh against him before she pulled gently away, and he noticed the pink that blushed her own cheeks.

"The point is, you are my friend, and I should not have assumed that you would not need to talk about it."

"I... didn't really know I needed to," he half-smiled. They stood there for a moment, silent. Then Tim walked away toward his closet and pulled out a light jacket. "Ducky's gonna want his car back, so I'm gonna take it over to NCIS and swap back for mine," he said as he put the jacket on and headed toward the door. Ziva followed him out as they headed for the cars.

She got to her driver door and opened it before hearing Tim speak again, "Hey, Ziva?" Her head turned toward his voice. "Thanks." She smiled at him...

* * *

**2 days later...**

The suspect ran when he spotted the three agents following him. They tore up the street after him. Gibbs signaled McGee to keep going up the walkway as he and Ziva cut up the alley. "Keep going," he shouted to Ziva as he tore up the fire escape toward the roof.

She only glanced up once before she headed around the corner in hopes to cut the suspect off. She ran fast, scanning the area ahead of her; her gun in her hands, ready if he should come around the corner. But then she saw McGee come into her view.

"Where'd he go?" he yelled to her. "I saw him come around this way!" She looked up at the building and saw another fire escape. Then they heard a gunshot...

Sharing a quick, nervous glance with each other, they tore up the fire escape toward the roof where they'd heard the shot. They were picturing the worst possible scenario in their heads as they climbed...

Ziva reached the top first, aiming her gun around the empty space before her. Tim was soon at her side. "Boss?" he yelled out. They both spotted a tall cinder wall in the middle of the roof and quickly moved toward it, splitting up to go around on either side with their guns drawn out in front of them.

"What took ya so long?" Gibbs said when they met on the other side. The agents were relieved as they holstered their weapons. Gibbs had shot the suspect in the leg, and had him cuffed on the ground.

*~.~*

As the EMTs loaded the wounded suspect into the back of the ambulance, Gibbs cell rang. He looked at the caller ID then glanced up at his agents, "You two ride with him," he said, "I'll follow you." Ziva and McGee climbed into the back of the ambulance as Gibbs got into his car and answered the phone.

"Yeah, Gibbs."

_"Mr. Gibbs, I'm calling for Doctor Wilson at Bethesda. You're listed as Anthony DiNozzo's emergency contact."_

"Yeah...something wrong?" he asked as he started the car and pulled out behind the ambulance.

_"No, sir. We're preparing to take out the chest tube, and we wanted to have someone here that would be comforting to him, as it's an uncomfortable procedure for the patient. Often, we end up having to sedate, but if we could avoid that, he would be able to go home afterward."_

"I'm on my way," he said and ended the call.

* * *

"Do ya really have to restrain my arm?" Tony asked the nurse as they fixed his right arm up on the bed over his head.

"It's not that we don't trust you, Mr. DiNozzo," the nurse said with a small grin, "But it's almost impossible for a patient to restrain themselves during such a delicate procedure."

"So, you're telling me this is gonna suck?" he tried not to show his anxiety.

"I promise you, this only takes a few seconds," she assured him, "And I'll be numbing the area. We'll have to sew you up once it's out." Somehow, her words gave him no comfort. He laid his head back and tried not to completely freak out.

There was a light knock on the door, and his eyes went to it as he saw Gibbs come into the room. "Boss?" Tony was surprised to see him there.

"Hey, DiNozzo," he smirked as he approached the bed.

"Made it just in time for the second round of medieval torture," he let out his infamous nervous laugh. Gibbs watched the nurse as she injected some numbing agent around the area where the chest tube was. Then he looked up at the restraint, and back at Tony's nervous face.

"At least you get to go home today," he tried to reassure him.

"If your chest x-ray is clear, yes," the nurse said. "And you'll need to come back in forty-eight hours for a second one, to make sure everything is still clear. I assume there's someone who can keep an eye on you at home?"

"We'll take care of him," Gibbs told the nurse, and Tony glanced at him.

"Great," the nurse gave Gibbs a small smile. "If you can hold onto his arm," she told him, "So he doesn't try to pull my hand away during the procedure..."

Tony swallowed, knowing what was about to happen, and he started to panic; the memories of them cutting into his chest to insert the tube, flooding into his mind. He couldn't scream then...

"Tony," he heard Gibbs and felt his boss's hand around his wrist, and the other grasping his hand when he'd seen him begin to panic. His eyes went to his boss's.

"I need you to take a deep breath and hold it for me," the nurse said. Tony complied without looking away from Gibbs. And as he felt the pain at his side, his eyes clamped shut and his hand gripped down on Gibbs'. Gibbs looked up at Tony's other hand as it struggled against the restraint, and looked at the tube that was being pulled from Tony's chest.

"It's out," Gibbs told him, "It's done." Tony opened his eyes and let out his breath. He looked down at where the tube used to be as the nurse was stitching him up. He had to admit, the absence of the tube was relieving. The few moments of torture was well worth it being over now. He felt the grip around his wrist loosen up and he realized he was still squeezing Gibbs' hand.

He looked over at him as he loosened his grip and let him have his hand back. "Sorry, Boss," he said.

"When you get him home," the nurse said as she secured the stitched incision with butterfly sutures, "He'll need to leave the dressings on. No showers or baths. No lifting anything over ten pounds..."

"I think I get the picture," Tony said. "Nothing but bed rest."

"Until I see you for your second chest x-ray, that would be excellent." Tony turned to his boss.

"Sure you wanna spend your weekend at my place?"

"Never said that," Gibbs smirked. Tony looked confused, as if he'd misunderstood him. "Question is, you sure you wanna spend the weekend on my couch?"

* * *

**Two weeks later...**

"Sure you're ready to come back to work?" Gibbs asked Tony as they drove into the parking garage.

"As much as I've appreciated the hospitality, I don't think I can spend another day on my ass watching reruns," he replied. Gibbs smirked. "Besides, the doc said I'm good to go."

"The team misses you."

"They've all been by to see me." Gibbs cocked his head as he put the car in park.

"Missed you being part of the team."

"Really?" he looked at his boss with a hint of disbelief. Gibbs smirked again as they got out of the car.

"Well, it _has_ been quieter without you around," he said as they walked to the elevator. "And...we've managed to actually get things done during work hours."

"That's probably why it's been so quiet," Tony smirked as the elevator doors closed with them in it. "Probie's tryin' to make me look bad," he squinted.

"McGee's been pickin' up half your slack, DiNozzo," he said. Tony bit the inside of his cheek. "Ziva's been pickin' up the other half."

"They didn't have to do that," he said with a hint of regret in his voice.

"They know," Gibbs said. It was quiet for a moment.

"I'm usually back in the office after hours to finish my work," he said. "And they got all of that _and_ their own done during work hours? Guess maybe I don't even need to be here," he looked down at his feet, sheepishly.

"Didn't say they did _your_ work during work hours," Gibbs said. Tony looked up at him. "They came in every night after they knew I went home." Tony furrowed a brow at him. Gibbs smirked, "I had Abby run through the surveillance tapes," he told him. "They weren't tryin' to make you look bad. If anything, they made me realize just how much you actually do," his gaze went back to the doors as the elevator dinged and came to a stop.

Tony felt a tinge of happiness at his boss's words. It felt, almost, like he was proud of him. They exited the elevator and walked toward the bullpen. But Ziva and McGee were grabbing their gear as they approached.

"Got a call, Boss," McGee said. "Dead Marine at the pier."

"Let's go," Gibbs turned around and they followed him back to the elevator.

"Welcome back, Tony," McGee grinned at his partner.

"Thanks," he replied. His gaze shifted to Ziva who was grinning at him as well.

* * *

"Local fisherman pulled him outta the water about half an hour ago," the boat rental manager told the team as Ducky examined the body. "Guy's name is Jack Orsin. Him and a couple of friends rented a boat from me about four this morning. Never came back."

"Do you have his friends' names?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah," he walked over to a filing cabinet and opened the drawer.

"What kinda boat did they rent?" Tony asked as he looked out over the docked boats along the pier.

"Just a small SUV. I'm guessing they were going fishing. Although, I didn't see any gear." Tony pulled out a pair of binoculars as he made his way out of the front of the store, and looked down the pier.

"You're Marine hasn't been dead for more than two hours," Ducky said as he walked into the store.

"What is it, Tony?" Ziva asked as she walked up beside him. Tony spotted two men about four docks over, and they were looking at them through their own set of binoculars. When they spotted Tony watching them, they panicked and started out of the boat.

"Boss! Think I found them!" Tony took off up the dock, turning to chase after them at full speed. Gibbs saw him, and all three agents took off after him.

Tony got a good amount of gain on the men as they had to run off the dock before getting any lead. But Tony was faster. He dove at them, taking both men down, and they all flipped at the sudden impact. He stood and pulled out his weapon, aiming it at them. "Guess you shoulda swam," he told them.

Gibbs, Ziva and McGee caught up to them and the two younger agents cuffed the suspects. Gibbs and Tony holstered their weapons. "God it's good to be back!" Tony said with a big grin. Gibbs smiled and shook his head...

* * *

**The end! Woot! Yay :)**

**I'm relieved to be done with this one, I hafta say lol. I wanted to address relationships a bit more, but it seemed redundant. So...off to start a new one! Hope u enjoyed :)**


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